Improved cotton-bale raft



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BYRNE, OF NEW' YORK, N.Y.

IMPROVED COTTON-BALE RAFT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5l ,140, dated November' 28, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BYRNE, of the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a new Mode of Transporting Cotton-Bales; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top view of a number ot' cottonbales bound together for receiving a waterproof envelope. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the raft of cottonbales. Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the raft, showing the airspaces between the bales when they are properly bound together and enveloped.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to a novel mode of transporting cotton-bales and other merchandise upon rivers which are not navigable for large Steamers or fiat-boats, for the purpose of avoiding the labor and expense of transporting such merchandise upon land.

' The nature of my invention consists in forming rafts of such merchandise which shall be perfectly water-proof and capable of heilig navigated upon shallow streams by means of oars or poles, or towed by steam or otherpower, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

There are many rivers in cotton-growing districts which are not navigable for three or four months of the year by stcamboats or flat-boats, owing to the sand-bars on such rivers, and for this reason the cotton-growers are compelled to send their cotton overland to a point where they can haveittransported by water to market.

To overcome this diflicultyI take a number of cotton-hales--say ten or fifteen-and firmly bind them all together, in the manner shown in the drawings, by means ot' chains, wires, or ropes. The balesA A are placed side by side upon a vflat surface, and the ropes'or chains a a drawn under them and brought together, so as to form acompact. raft of cotton. Anindiarubber cloth or other water-prooil material is now placed under the raft and its edgesbrought over the bales and secured by lacing, as shown in the drawings, so as to form an envelope or outer skin for protecting the cotton from water.

It may be found most convenient topspread the cloth O upon a fiat surface previously to constructing the raft, and thus prevent the necessity of lifting the raft in order to apply said cloth to it. Such a iiat surface may be formed by making au inclined plane of planks on the bank of a river which it is desired to navigate; or a kind of launching -whart' may be constructed so that the raft can be readily launched from it into the center or deepest part of the stream. If an inclined wharf is soaped or greased, the raft can be easily slid from it when ready for launching.

The average weight of cotton bales is Jive hundred pounds. The average size is .five by three by two, making thirty cubic feet, and as each cubic foot of water weighs over sixtyK pounds, a bale of cotton could float thirteen hundred pounds weight on top of it without being submerged entirely. In other words, a bale of cotton could float on about ten inches of water on that side which is iive by two, and on seven inches of water on that side which is tive by three, and when the bales are made up into a raft and the bottom and sides covered, so as to keep ont water, as above described, such raft can be iioated overbars over which an unloaded flat-boat would not float.

Owing to the elastic properties of baled cotton, the sides of the bales will assume arounded form, and consequently water-ti ght apartments b b will be left bythe water-tight envelope, as shown in Fig. 3, which will necessarily augment the fica-tin g capacity of the raft.

About ten bales of cotton will be sufficient for one raft, and several of such rafts may be secu red together, where the rivers will admit of it, and navigated as one raft. I do not limit myself to any definite number ot' bales to constitute a raft, for in some cases a raft may be constructed of a board flooring covered on the outside with a water-proof cloth, and the bales or other articles of merchandise secured together upon such iioor. The Iioor will add stiffness to the raft and admit of a large number ofbales bein g employed in the formation thereof'. In all cases I shall employ a water-proof envelope to prevent the cotton or other article from becoming wet.

Having thus described my invention, what a, Water-proof covering applied under the bot- I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters tom, around the sides and ends, and partly or Wholly over the top ofthe raftof bales or bun- The inode, substantially as herein described, dies, as described and represented.

of rafting cotton-baies and other baled or bnndled merchandise of a buoyant character npon rivers, the said mode comprising a frame or platform for a series of bales or bundles, and

'Vitnesses SAM. L. HARRIS,

WM. H. HACKER.

THOS. BYRNE. 

